The scimitar was shaking even more miserably. Xie Lian was a little flustered, and gently stroked the back of the blade, saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't see clearly that it was you just now. I won't do that again."

After a few times, Er Ming narrowed his eyes and the trembling finally stopped. Xie Lian asked again, "Where is your master?"

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "Ignore it."

Xie Lian looked back and stood up suddenly, surprised and happy, and asked, "Sanlang? Why are you here?"

The young man walking leisurely behind him was Hua Cheng. He had tied his black hair into a crooked ponytail, and wore a light white shirt, a red shirt tied at the waist, and rolled up his sleeves, revealing pale but strong arms and tattoos on them. When he walked, the silver chains on his boots jingled, and he looked very casual, like a 29-year-old boy next door, but also very cool. He bit a small piece of wild grass and smiled at Xie Lian, "Brother."

Xie Lian had planned to go to Hua Cheng to express his gratitude after settling the two children, but he came here by himself. Hua Cheng walked to him slowly, pulled out the silver scimitar stuck in the ground with one hand, took it in his hand and looked at it, then put the scimitar on his shoulder and said, "Brother is busy here, so you don't need to go there specially, so I came here by myself. You forgot this."

He was carrying a bamboo hat on his back, which he took off and gave to Xie Lian. This was something Xie Lian had forgotten at the rich merchant's place. He was startled and said hurriedly, "I forgot it. Thank you for your help."

After saying this, he suddenly remembered that after something happened last night, he said to Huacheng, "I'm looking for my hat, my hat is missing." That was nonsense he said in a daze, but Huacheng actually went to help him find the hat. He suddenly felt embarrassed, afraid that Huacheng would make fun of this. Fortunately, Huacheng didn't mention it at all, and smiled and changed the subject, saying, "Brother picked up two more children?" As he said this, he rubbed Guzi's head, messing up his hair, but Guzi seemed to be very afraid of him and hid behind Xie Lian. Xie Lian said, "It's okay, this brother is a good person."

Hua Cheng said, "No, no. I'm a bad guy." As he said this, he flipped his hand and a small silver butterfly came out from his sleeve. It flapped its wings and flew slowly in front of Gu Zi. Gu Zi's black eyes widened and he stared at the small silver butterfly for a while, and finally couldn't help reaching out to catch it.

As a result, his vigilance towards Hua Cheng was greatly reduced. Afterwards, Hua Cheng glanced at Lang Ying casually. Unlike the natural look he had when he glanced at Gu Zi, when he looked at Lang Ying, his eyes were cold and sharp, not very friendly. Lang Ying lowered her head and shrank behind Xie Lian anxiously.

Xie Lian took the bamboo hat in his hand and said, “You came if you want to, why are you sweeping the Puqi Temple again?”

Hua Cheng said: "I just cleaned up the house. Don't you think you will feel refreshed after clearing out all the garbage?"

"..." Xie Lian remembered the missing Qi Rong and wondered if Hua Cheng had thrown him away like trash. At this moment, a scream came from behind the Puqi Temple: "You should go to hell, you damn dog Hua Cheng! Murder, Hua Cheng killed someone!!!"

Guzi yelled, "Dad!" and ran over with his short legs. Xie Lian hurried to catch up. There was a stream behind the Puqi Temple. Xie Lian usually washed clothes and washed rice here. At this moment, Qi Rong was also soaking in the water, with Ruo Xie still tied tightly to his body. He struggled to get his face out of the water and shouted, "I won't go out, I won't go out! I will stay in this body until he dies! I won't give in!!!"

Hua Cheng spat out the weed and said, "Do you think you are some kind of heroic fighter? Trash."

Xie Lian said helplessly, “…I caught this guy on a mountain a few days ago. He possessed someone and refused to come out. This person is not dead yet. If I forcibly separate his soul from his body, he will have to destroy his body. It’s really…Does Sanlang have any ideas?”

Hua Cheng said: "Hmm? Are you asking for ways to make him suffer a fate worse than death? There are plenty of ways."

This was a threat. Qi Rong cursed, "You two! You are such a rotten pot and a rotten lid! You have such a vicious heart! Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..." He didn't finish his words and sank back into the stream. Although Xie Lian thought of his mother's body that turned into ashes when he saw him, and felt angry and sad, this body belonged to someone else and he had to keep it, so he lifted him up from the stream and put him at the entrance of Puqi Temple. Qi Rong hadn't eaten for a day and a night, and was so hungry that his stomach was sticking to his back. Hua Cheng had also played a bad game on him, and he was exhausted. Gu Zi fed him the meat pie that he secretly brought back from a rich merchant, and he ate it so voraciously that the crumbs fell off. It was really hateful and pitiful. Xie Lian shook his head and found that Qi Rong's limbs were stiff. It was not because of Ruo Xie's binding. It was probably because Hua Cheng had cast some magic to freeze his body, so he said, "Ruo Xie, come back."

Ruo Xie had tied up Qi Rong for several days and had been feeling very aggrieved. He came down in a flash and wrapped around Xie Lian like a white snake. Xie Lian opened the door and comforted it while untying it from his body. He said, "Okay, okay. I'll give you a bath later. Don't be sad. Go play next to it first."

Ruo Xie swam to the side listlessly. Hua Cheng also casually threw E Ming away, and E Ming found a decent posture and stood up. Ruo Xie, who was facing the wall, suddenly found a silver scimitar leaning against the side, and approached it cautiously. The eye on the handle of E Ming also turned over and looked at it. Fang Xin was lifeless and motionless, without any expression.

Xie Lian had been concentrating on studying cooking these days and felt that he had made some progress. It was the time when his confidence was growing. He wanted to show off his skills and treat Hua Cheng well, so he asked him to stay for dinner, and Hua Cheng naturally agreed. Xie Lian bought a lot of vegetables when he came back from the town. Now he piled them on the altar, picked up the kitchen knife, and banged the pots and chopped the board. This altar can be used as a desk or a kitchen table. It can hold bowls and chopsticks and children can sit. It can be said that it is a table with many uses. Hua Cheng leaned against the wall and watched for a while. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and said, "Do you need help?"

Xie Lian was working very hard, and said, "No need. Ruo Xie can help." As he said that, he threw a few bundles of rough firewood that had not been chopped into thin pieces. With a "snap!" sound, like a cobra king attacking, the white silk slashed at the firewood, and the calf-thick wood was immediately chopped into thin pieces of firewood.

After Ruo Xie showed off this skill, she made an extremely exaggerated pose in front of E Ming and Fang Xin, as if to show off her strength and beauty. Before she could be beautiful for a while, Xie Lian put a plate on the ground and threw a cabbage over. Ruo Xie was about to meet him, but E Ming's eyes suddenly became stern, and he flew up, dancing in the air with dazzling silver light. Immediately, the sky was full of vegetables, and when it landed, the cabbage was cut into neat and shredded pieces. Xie Lian squatted down, picked up the plate, and praised, "You are amazing, you cut it better than Ruo Xie."

Ruo Xie suddenly stuck to the wall, as if a person took several steps backwards, retreated to the wall, and had no way to retreat. E Ming rolled his eyes wildly, showing a satisfied look, as if he was already in ecstasy. With each knife and silk, her heart remained unmoved. Xie Lian paid no attention to the small battle between the magic weapons. While putting seven or eight different side dishes into the pot at the same time, he turned around and asked, "By the way, Sanlang, how long will you be here this time?"

Hua Cheng watched his movements the whole time, and seemed to want to remind him of something, but he stopped talking and smiled, "It depends. If there's nothing going on over there, just play for a few more days. If I stay here, I hope you won't dislike me, brother."

Xie Lian said hurriedly, “How could that be? It’s fine as long as you don’t mind that my place is too small.” He talked about all sorts of things, including the ghost girl’s pointing fingers and making a scene at the Shenwu Temple. However, he naturally omitted the fact that he was accused and Yan Zhen’s blood was spilled. But then he thought of what Jun Wu said about Hua Cheng having spies in the heavens, and wondered if he had known about it long ago. Fortunately, whether Hua Cheng knew it or not, he didn’t show that he knew it, but just seemed to be thinking about it. Xie Lian said, “Sanlang, who do you think the father of this fetal spirit is?”

Hua Cheng raised his head, smiled faintly, and said: "It's hard to say. Maybe, the golden belt is really just something she picked up."

This vague answer was not like Hua Cheng’s usual style. Xie Lian felt a little strange, but soon, the bubbling pot grabbed his attention.

After two incense sticks, the pot was opened.

Qi Rong used to eat the offerings that the villagers gave to Xie Lian. Although they were just steamed buns, pickles, flatbreads, eggs, sour wild fruits, etc., they were at least human food. As soon as the pot was opened, the smell drifted out of the Puqi Temple. He cursed outside the door: "Damn Xie Lian! Black-hearted Xue Lian! You might as well give me a quick knife! You hypocritically pulled me up, but it turned out that you wanted me to suffer this torture! I finally see through you!!!"

Before opening the pot, Xie Lian was full of confidence. After opening the lid, he began to doubt himself again. He had spent so much effort to make such a pot of food, and Hua Cheng was still standing by and watching. He didn't know what to do. Did he really want Hua Cheng to eat this? Hearing Qi Rong's ghostly screams, he was even more annoyed. Hearing the sound, Hua Cheng folded his arms and was about to walk out. Xie Lian raised his hand to stop him and said, "Forget it."

He sighed, scooped a bowl from the pot, and said to Hua Cheng, "Don't eat this pot. Wait for me for a while." He went out, called Gu Zi and Lang Ying to fetch water, and moved them away from the scene. Then he squatted down with the bowl in his hand and said in a friendly manner, "Cousin, it's time to eat."

Qi Rong was horrified and said, "What are you doing? What are you doing? What do you want to do?! Xie Lian, I warn you, I am a human being now, you should think carefully! Whoever can eat this thing of yours will transcend the constraints of the three realms and jump out of the six reincarnations, without any..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Hua Cheng standing by the pot in the room. He picked up a spoon and scooped a bowl of soup. He sat by the altar and took a bite. He remained calm and composed, and was instantly shocked. A thought that he had never thought of before flashed through his mind -

It’s really amazing!

Xie Lian brought the bowl close to his face and said calmly, “It’s okay if you don’t want to eat. Come out now.”

That was even more impossible. Qi Rong clenched his teeth, but Xie Lian pinched his jaw open with a click and poured the liquid in.

The next moment, screams resounded over Puqi Village.

The bowl in Xie Lian’s hand was empty, and Qi Rong on the ground had a crooked nose and squinting eyes. Even his voice was as hoarse as an old man at the end of his life. He moaned, “…I…hate…”

Seeing that he refused to eat even after a bowl was stuffed into his mouth, Xie Lian didn't know whether he was happy or sad. Although he really wanted to force Qi Rong to eat, since he failed, it seemed to confirm that the food he made with his heart was not that hard to swallow, which seemed to be something worth being happy about. Turning back, he saw Hua Cheng also holding a bowl, eating slowly while looking at this side. His bowl was almost empty, his eyes lit up, and he stood up and said, "Sanlang, are you done eating?"

He originally felt that it was not well prepared and was embarrassed to give it to Huacheng, but Huacheng ate it himself. Huacheng smiled and said, "Yes."

“…” Xie Lian asked cautiously, “How do you think it tastes?”

Hua Cheng drank the soup as well and smiled, "Not bad. It's a bit thick. You can make it a little lighter next time."

Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “Okay, I’ll remember that. Thank you for your advice.”

Qi Rong: “Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!!!!”